By Sandra
Bertrand Duchaufour is one of my favourite perfumers of all time. Whenever a new perfume is released that he has created, I scramble to the computer and order a sample as quickly as possible. In fact when I started down this perfume rabbit hole I was initially concentrating on Duchaufour creations.
A few years ago I discovered the world of leather fragrances and have fallen deeper down the hole than I ever thought possible. Taking into account the sheer number of perfume releases in any given year year and that 2015 is bringing a couple of leather perfumes on the market it is such a pleasure to find a beautiful creation like The Different Company’s I miss Violet which is quickly turning into one of my favourite fragrances of the year.
I have always dreamed of living the jet-setting life – haven’t we all? Well, Violet is a world traveller – jetting from Paris, to Venice and on to Hong Kong with a signature fragrance. Does Violet have lovers scattered throughout the world – dreaming of her and her scent trail? What kind of a perfume would somebody like this wear? It has to be elegant, classy, not too sweet and memorable.
Bertrand Duchaufour wanted to create a modern violet (floral leather) perfume and he certainly succeeded in doing so with I miss Violet.
The notes list is long and complex and I will leave it out so I don’t get tempted to pick apart each note and so you, dear reader, won’t be swayed one way or another. I will however cue you in on some of the notes but not all of them.This is a perfume worthy of trying so if you will allow me please let me explain to you my experience.
On first spray I am noticing that I miss Violet goes on chilly – not smell but temperature. This has the comforting effect of cooling my skin (which by the way works beautifully in 30+ degree weather with no AC). The perfume opens up slightly floral and fizzy – imagine a champagne vibe to it like sipping a glass of Bollinger where the bubbles provide a taste of subtle fruit and florals. There is an undertone of earthy notes (no fruit) so that it is not an over the top fizzy opening. This phase lasts a good 45 minutes and then some florals arrive on the scene.
The florals are not as the name suggests violet centric, in fact I do not get much of violet at all. There are several florals intertwined which makes this a winner for me. I get a dash of iris and some fresh notes but most importantly for me I get osmanthus which I adore. It is a waxy osmanthus feeling that I experience. The osmanthus intertwined with iris and the champagne accord are swirling intoxicatingly and the perfume then starts to feel like suede – the most supple suede you can imagine.
I miss Violet is a beautiful floral leather perfume and when I have my pennies saved I will be purchasing a full bottle.
Please do chime in and let me know if you have tried I miss Violet or if you would like to. Also I would love to hear what new leather fragrances you have recently tried which I should explore as I cannot seem to get enough of them.
Olfactoria's Travels 
Hey there Sandra,
What an fun name for a fragrance. Love a bit of leather too. You make I Miss Violet sound utterly swoon worthy.
Currently I have on a my skin a rosy/leather/oud affair called Qessence by Missala. Very nice. Probably not FB worthy as it hits a bunch of notes already catered for in my collection but definitely worth a try if you havent been bitten by the oud/rose bug yet.
Portia xx
Hi Portia. Nice to see you here today. Thanks for the information on Qessence. I need to look it up this evening. I do like Rose Oud by Kilian. xo
I love the bottle. It is on my very short list to try. I won’t hold my breath, but if you like it this much then I have a good chance. xxx 🙂
The bottle is lovely. Not sure that this is your taste – we will see. I have not been able to convince you of a perfume yet! xo
I tried it but I would love to try it again as I really liked it so I would like now a chance to smell it in peace and quiet and enjoy it more.
Oh I do hope you can try it again soon Ines. It is beautiful right now in the warmer weather.
I have tried this and was really hoping I would love it. In the end it left me curiously unmoved and I am still puzzling over why this should be so – possibly the fact that violet isn’t a favourite note. Maybe it was the chilly aspect you speak of – or a sort of watery, vegetal quality – that rendered it more offbeat than lovable. It reminded me in that way of that clear green perfume (as in the juice), Balenciaga L’Essence. If it had had a love child with Cuir d’Ange, I Miss Violet might be the result. It seems to be getting a lot of good press already, though the young redhead model is perhaps an odd poster girl for a BD scent?
Sorry to hear that you were unmoved by it Vanessa. The chilly opening is an interesting effect. Perhaps if ypu try it in warmer weather you may enjoy it more. Interestingly enough I did not get on with Cuir d’Ange at all. I must admit I like the redhead and the photos that they used.
Am having another day wearing this – which is quite warm as Britain goes! It is more leathery and less vegetal when warmed up in this way, so I am quite enjoying it – would be very office-appropriate, for example, but doubt if it will tip over into a major lemming as such.
Glad to hear that you are enjoying it a bit more today.
Warm skin is definitely the way to go. Getting that ‘supple suede’ drydown as we speak!
Thanks so much for this review Sandra. I’m dying to try this and Vanessa is sending me the remains of her sample.
I really hope I get what you do. Very encouraged by the fact you don’t find it sweet. I also love osmanthus and that was big selling (lemming?) point for me.
I tried Cuir Velours over the weekend. It’s a suede but very sweet and boozy to start. Did you try the honey suede of Cuirelle? How about Boxeuses?
Oh I do hope you enjoy this Tara. Let me know how you get on with it. There is no sweetness at all on me. I love Cuir Velours and enjoy Boxeuses too. Cuirelle is lovely but the honey was a bit suffocating after a few hours. Thanks for the recommendations.
Sandra, I am wearing I miss Violet today! Love it. I get iris, lots of lovely osmantus and some violet. It feels more like suede than it smells like suede, if you know what I mean. So far, so gorgeous. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it through to the base.
Yay!! It does feels more like suede. So glad you are enjoying it. Hope the drydown is just as good. Xo
Loved this post, many thanks! I too am a big BD fan. I cannot wait to try this one! xx
Looking forward to hearing what you think about it when you try it.
Sounds like this is a must try fragrance. Violet & osmanthus are big yes for me. No sweetness is even better! Another one to put on my try list. 🙂
Hope you get the violet and the osmanthus too and that it works for your skin.
Lovely review, Sandra, after reading your impressions on “I miss Violet”, I really want to try it as soon as possible.
Usually I struggle with leather fragrances but surprisingly have completely fallen in love with Anubis lately. On my skin the leather is horse saddle like and I get a comfortable yet adventurous campfire atmosphere from it. Heavenly!
Anubis is great – I really need to spend more time with my sample and see if I get the campfire vibe. Hope you can try “I miss Violet” soon Anka.
Sandra, I love osmanthus, violet and iris, and can easily imagine how they would form the perfect floral-leather, suede-like and tres elegant. You make this sound very intriguing!
If you are loving leather scents, one of the best ones I discovered last year was Parfums Retro Grand Cuir. It’s more of a masculine leather, but a leather of the fine-groomed man variety – so while I’m not sure if it’s a leather that would be suited to your particular tastes, I do think you’d enjoy smelling it on your husband. 🙂
Thank you for the tip Suzanne – am off to google it. My husband likes a good leather perfume. Hooe you like the osmanthus in I miss Violet.
Interesting review! I need to re-try it. I only sprayed it on once in a shop and liked it in a kind of non-descript way without urgently needing the full bottle. I did not get the suede unfortunately. For me the vibe was more like “OK another violet-Misia-Lipstick type thing, nice but not earth shattering (the credit card liked that last bit!). I like the name of the perfume though as well as the ad that most people do not care for much, so I guess at some point, the marketing will work its magic and I will get a bottle eventually…… sucker that I am….